This is my first post on the forum. I have enjoyed reading some of the earlier posts and hope that I get some replies to this 
. Apologies for the length - hopefully at least one person will read it
I am a Software Engineer from London with 3 years' experience with a Java bias, having obtained an undergraduate degree in CS in addition to an MSc in AI from a top-class university. This includes 1 year working for a software house that produces back-office systems, however I wouldn't regard this work as being overly technical (I did a lot of GUI work/demos etc). I am currently not working within the finance industry. My current position, whilst is technical, has involved development, team leading, and some high-level work, but development-wise I would not say it is "hard-core" (for want of a better term). This is the second time in which I have been a victim of job-misadvertisement - I guess I have just had some bad luck!
Ideally I would like to get work within either an investment bank or a hedge fund as a developer, perhaps with a view to move into a more business-oriented role in the future, who knows. I am keen to learn more about finance and have started the introductory Securities & Investments Institute qualification in my spare time. I am also working towards Java certification and when time allows I am gradually learning C++. I am very interested in computing and spend much of my spare time playing around with new languages etc. I am also trying to brush up on my maths and have started reading Hull and some other more introductory texts. I am considering a MSc FE, however I doubt that I can afford that at the moment.
When speaking to recruiters I receive conflicting information: some recommend I try to get a BO role, others say this is a bad idea as it's difficult to move out of this area, i.e., nearer to the FO or into anything high-frequency/algorithmic. These are the areas in which I am most interested - not just for the money, but I am interested in mission-critical systems and AI. Others recommend that I try to move into any tech role that could provide me with the capability to learn and apply these techniques, with a view to get into a financial institution after a year or so.
Thoughts on the above would be much appreciated. Perhaps someone could recommend a project (even something Open Source) that I could work on that would give me some experience with the relevant technologies (e.g. high freq/multi-threading), since unfortunately there is limited scope within my current job for this. Recruiters don't accept "I know the theory"; and rightly so.
TIA
. Apologies for the length - hopefully at least one person will read it I am a Software Engineer from London with 3 years' experience with a Java bias, having obtained an undergraduate degree in CS in addition to an MSc in AI from a top-class university. This includes 1 year working for a software house that produces back-office systems, however I wouldn't regard this work as being overly technical (I did a lot of GUI work/demos etc). I am currently not working within the finance industry. My current position, whilst is technical, has involved development, team leading, and some high-level work, but development-wise I would not say it is "hard-core" (for want of a better term). This is the second time in which I have been a victim of job-misadvertisement - I guess I have just had some bad luck!
Ideally I would like to get work within either an investment bank or a hedge fund as a developer, perhaps with a view to move into a more business-oriented role in the future, who knows. I am keen to learn more about finance and have started the introductory Securities & Investments Institute qualification in my spare time. I am also working towards Java certification and when time allows I am gradually learning C++. I am very interested in computing and spend much of my spare time playing around with new languages etc. I am also trying to brush up on my maths and have started reading Hull and some other more introductory texts. I am considering a MSc FE, however I doubt that I can afford that at the moment.
When speaking to recruiters I receive conflicting information: some recommend I try to get a BO role, others say this is a bad idea as it's difficult to move out of this area, i.e., nearer to the FO or into anything high-frequency/algorithmic. These are the areas in which I am most interested - not just for the money, but I am interested in mission-critical systems and AI. Others recommend that I try to move into any tech role that could provide me with the capability to learn and apply these techniques, with a view to get into a financial institution after a year or so.
Thoughts on the above would be much appreciated. Perhaps someone could recommend a project (even something Open Source) that I could work on that would give me some experience with the relevant technologies (e.g. high freq/multi-threading), since unfortunately there is limited scope within my current job for this. Recruiters don't accept "I know the theory"; and rightly so.
TIA
